Hello, I know this is an age-old question, but IO would like to ask it again because I have seen different answers in different places. I know it might be bad to run two programs simultaneously, but can we INSTALL two anti-virus programs on one system, but RUN only one at a time? Thanks for all valuable suggestions.

I wouldn't give an unqualified "no" to this question, because it is technically possible. By disabling the startup programs and services associated with one anti-virus tool it is possible to prevent it from running on startup and most A/V tools wil allow you to install side-by-side even if they kick up a fuss about it. In this way you could have two or more tools installed on the same system with only one of them running.

The big question is why would you want to? Apart from the general hassle of the above procedure, the possibilty for system instability and program conflicts is massive.

My advice is find one that you like and stick to it; my security software is as follows:
Avira Antivirus (free)
Comodo Internet Security Suite (free, firewall only, defense+ disabled)
WinPatrol (free)
Peerblock (free, only used when running uTorrent)
The above, combined with common sense and a hardware firewall in your router and you're about as protected as you can get.

I disagree with you on that chef, you can install several and run one then run the others and you will see that some pick up things that the other one didn't so they all aren't foolproof, but each to their own

Depending on the virus checkers, you can run two or more simultaneously, which I've already seen people do successfully or without realising. However, assuming they don't conflict, the consequence is that it will most likely cause a noticeable slow down, much like having a second security screening at an airport.

As you are just looking to run one at a time, the best thing in my opinion would be to find a good real-time AV and find a standalone AV that you can run on demand. For example, Microsoft Security Essentials for a real-time AV and ClamAV for an on-demand check (both free).

This AV review is worth a look at, which compares 15 in real-life tests on Malware infected websites with PCs missing updates and using old version of Flash, Java, etc. However, as mentioned above, no Antivirus package tested in the review was 100% successful at stopping infections.

I used to run spyboy search and destroy and Norton or Kaspersky together without any issues. Kaspersky would complain about it if it was already installed when I did upgrades so I'd just delete it and reinstall it afterwords. It didn't seem to slow anything down any more then just running the AV by itself but sometimes a legit web site or something wouldn't work right and I'd have to add it to some exclusion list or whatever.
For the moment I haven't reinstalled spybot and I agree that running too many things at once can cause issues so if your not having problems I'd run whatever you like best that works and see if you need anything else later.

Depending on the virus checkers, you can run two or more simultaneously, which I've already seen people do successfully or without realising. However, assuming they don't conflict, the consequence is that it will most likely cause a noticeable slow down, much like having a second security screening at an airport.

As you are just looking to run one at a time, the best thing in my opinion would be to find a good real-time AV and find a standalone AV that you can run on demand. For example, Microsoft Security Essentials for a real-time AV and ClamAV for an on-demand check (both free).

I did a bit of a search to know more about standalone AV, and many major names like BitDefender and Norton came up. Are they really standalone? Aren't they real-time AV?

I did a bit of a search to know more about standalone AV, and many major names like BitDefender and Norton came up. Are they really standalone? Aren't they real-time AV?

I think that the use of standalone in this context is ambiguous. Most A/V software that is installed on your system provides you with the option of real-time scanning which can be turned on or off via the application interface, as well as the option of on-demand scanning as an when you like, or to a pre-defined schedule.

Many A/V apps can also be obtained in portable format, i.e. to go on a flash-drive etc.; these don't install any files on your system, but can be run on-demand to check for viruses/malware.

Thanks midders, may I ask one more question?
Based on what you said, can I install two real AV programs like Bitdefender and Eset on one system, with the real-time protection of one permanently disabled? This is how the discussion began. But I would like to know what you think about this. Also, do you know any people actually doing it?
Thanks again.
Ayiramala

Please don't PM with questions like this; put it in the thread so that everyone can read it. Thx.

Yes, you can have two AV apps installed with the real-time protection of one disabled, but there is not much point in doing it. I don't know anyone who does this. The generally recommended config is to have one AV app installed with real-time protection and then run others on an ad-hoc basis e.g. I use Avira but run Malwarebytes Antimalware, Superantispyware, and Spywareblaster every now and then to check for malware that Avira might have missed.

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Re: Can we install two anti-virus progrgams on one computer?

Quote:

Originally Posted by midders

...The generally recommended config is to have one AV app installed with real-time protection and then run others on an ad-hoc basis e.g. I use Avira but run Malwarebytes Antimalware, Superantispyware, and Spywareblaster every now and then to check for malware that Avira might have missed...

Quote:

Originally Posted by olyteddy

Another option is to run one of the Java based online ones, such as HouseCall or Kapersky. These will always be the most up to date.

I also agree the combination both posters mention here is as good as you can get....and it´s what I also practise.

Something I think hasn´t been mentioned so far is the wisdom of keeping your security patches up-to-date!!! This means the Windows stuff as well as Firefox, Java and Adobe stuff...as annoying as it may be. They are patching known and used security weakness (usually) as quickly as they are aware of them. Some people forget to even check their anti-virus program database is updated. I had one case where a friend had problems, but assured me her anti-virus was all good: I checked...it wasn´t, in fact it had expired about a year ago!!! So, check that your stuff is running properly, look at it´s logs to see it is completing its scans...and what it´s doing with the stuff it finds, and that ALL updates are being managed properly.

Mciahel will be along shortly to remind us all that we shouldn´t be doing our daily operations under administrative settings...the biggest loophole of all!!!